If you get hurt in a car accident or any other incident because someone else was negligent, you deserve to get compensated for your losses. If they or their insurance company are unwilling to pay the full amount, you can file a personal injury lawsuit . That lawsuit demands compensation for all of your losses associated with the accident. While there are several common types of losses that you can ...
In our last blog post about car accidents , which covered holding defendants personally liable for a crash , we mentioned the “tort lottery.” This is a very difficult situation for victims to find themselves in, as their recovery depends on the affluence of the person who hurt them. Unfortunately, it can happen in a wide variety of ways in Missouri. The Tort Lottery The word “tort” is the ...
It is a cliché in personal injury law to say that “you may be entitled to financial compensation.” However, getting the full amount that victims deserve after they have been hurt in a car accident is not always easy. Especially if the injuries will cost over six figures to recover from, the defendant’s insurance coverage may hit its policy limits. When this happens, you may have to hold the ...
In our last blog post about car accidents , which covered holding defendants personally liable for a crash , we mentioned the “tort lottery.” This is a very difficult situation for victims to find themselves in, as their recovery depends on the affluence of the person who hurt them. Unfortunately, it can happen in a wide variety of ways in Missouri. The Tort Lottery The word “tort” is the ...
The personal injury attorneys at the Smith Law Office are fighting for a grieving Kansas City father in a civil lawsuit against his son’s killers. Bar Fight Leads to Shooting Death On August 20, 2017, Thomas Orr, III was at the Californos Bar in Kansas City’s Westport Entertainment District, which had a reputation for violence. While Mr. Orr was there, a fight broke out in the bar. Despite the ...
The personal injury attorneys at the Smith Law Office are seeking justice in the wrongful death case of Thomas Orr III. As we detailed earlier in our blog, Mr. Orr III – an off-duty police officer – was an innocent bystander when he was fatally shot during a bar fight in Kansas City. The Smith Law Office is representing Mr. Orr III’s father, Thomas Orr, Jr., in a wrongful death case that also ...
The Smith Law Office is behind one of the new cases being heard at the Circuit Court in Jackson County, Missouri. The case, a personal injury lawsuit for the wrongful death of a bar patron last August in Kansas City, involves a tricky aspect of the law that few people think of: If someone dies, how can they file a lawsuit? The Death of Thomas Orr The case centers on a bar fight that happened in ...
The Supreme Court of Missouri recently handed down a startling decision regarding the workers’ compensation process. The only good news it has for injured workers is that it is unlikely to apply to any cases but the one that it inexplicably brings to a close. Workers’ Compensation Case Makes it to the Missouri Supreme Court The case is one that we have blogged about before . Like so many others ...
If you get hurt in a car accident or any other incident because someone else was negligent, you deserve to get compensated for your losses. If they or their insurance company are unwilling to pay the full amount, you can file a personal injury lawsuit . That lawsuit demands compensation for all of your losses associated with the accident. While there are several common types of losses that you can ...
Most Missouri workers who have been hurt on the job are entitled to workers’ compensation . These benefits pay for your medical expenses and cover a portion of any wages that you lose while you recover. However, as with any other time where you make money, this raises an important question: Is it taxable? Workers’ Compensation Benefits are Generally Not Taxable The general rule is that workers’ ...
"The City of Springfield says it would pay $250,000 to the parents and attorneys of a man fatally shot by a police officer in February. If a judge approves the proposed settlement, the city and former officer Andrew Bath would not be held liable for the death of Michael Ireland. Attorneys for Ireland's family filed the proposed wrongful death lawsuit settlement in Greene County Circuit Court on ...
The Supreme Court of Missouri recently handed down a startling decision regarding the workers’ compensation process. The only good news it has for injured workers is that it is unlikely to apply to any cases but the one that it inexplicably brings to a close. Workers’ Compensation Case Makes it to the Missouri Supreme Court The case is one that we have blogged about before . Like so many others ...
Most Missouri workers who have been hurt on the job are entitled to workers’ compensation . These benefits pay for your medical expenses and cover a portion of any wages that you lose while you recover. However, as with any other time where you make money, this raises an important question: Is it taxable? Workers’ Compensation Benefits are Generally Not Taxable The general rule is that workers’ ...
In Missouri, most employers are legally required to carry workers’ compensation insurance. By paying premiums to their insurance carrier, these companies ensure that injured workers have a large source of funding to recover compensation for their workplace injuries. Companies that are required to carry this insurance but who refuse to do so can face criminal penalties. Nevertheless, some companies ...
Occasionally, workers who have been hurt on the job have the option of either filing a claim for workers’ compensation or a personal injury lawsuit. When they have these options, though, the “election of remedies” doctrine prohibits them from benefitting from both, as this would lead to a double payment. A recent case at the Missouri Court of Appeals is an example. Workers’ Compensation Award ...
Now that Missouri has legalized recreational marijuana, it raises an important question for employees in the state: If you get hurt on the job while high on marijuana, can you still recover workers’ compensation ? The answer is sometimes, but you may find the claims process to be more difficult than if you were sober. Missouri Legalizes Recreational Marijuana One of the issues on yesterday’s ...
In some cases, workers’ compensation claims can recover what are known as “open medical expenses.” While the circumstances that can lead to these “medical open” awards are narrow, they appeared in one recent case before the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission (LIRC) . Commission Affirms “Open Medical” Award The case, Burns v. Wal-Mart , involved a cashier who tripped and fell over a wooden ...
A St. Joseph man pled guilty to driving while intoxicated (DWI) and causing a car accident that killed a local woman and her unborn child. The story raises a question that many accident victims ask: Can I recover compensation in a personal injury lawsuit from a drunk driver that hurt me? The answer is yes, sometimes. St. Joseph Man Pleads Guilty to DWI After Fatal Crash The fatal accident happened ...
New data about car accidents in the United States paints a bleak picture about roadway safety here compared to abroad: While the U.S. was once among the safest places to travel, it now has a higher rate of fatalities from road accidents than any other rich nation in the world. According to one analysis, America’s car-centric transportation policies are to blame, as the roadway deaths ...
A new federal study estimates that fatalities from car accidents increased at some of the highest non-lockdown levels in decades earlier this year, with Missouri seeing a higher increase than the national average. The data paints an alarming picture of roadway safety. Study Estimates a 7 Percent Increase in Accident Fatalities This month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) ...